Fabrics



(No Model.) V 2 Sheets-Sheet 1'. R. T. PALMER, Jr. &.-F. W.'MEROER. MACHINE FOR MEASURINGAND CUTTING FABRICS.

No. 538,464. Patented Apr. 30,1895.

w eggs z She'ets-Sheet 2.

.RJT PALMER, Jr. & P. W. MERCER. MACHINE FOR MEASURING AND. CUTTING FABRICS.

5N0. 538.464.- Patented Apr. 30, 1895;

(No Model.)

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' SPECIFICATION forming part of. 'Letters Patent No. 538,464,datedApril 30, 1895. Application filed November 16,189i. Serial No. 529,051. (No nodal.) I

Jr, and FREDERIQW. MERCER, citizens of the United States, residing in the city and county of New Londonaud State of Connecticnt,'have nvented certain ,new' and useful "Improve.

'ment'sin MachinesforMeasuringandCutting Fabrics, which improvements are fully set .rnitering forth a'pd described in the following specificat o reference being had to the accompanymg two sheets of'drawings' I The particular object of our invention is to prov de inexpensive, mechanism formeasuring,

and quickly operated,

fabrics of the class commonly used in-"the manufacture of bed comfortables.

Figure 6 illustrates a common arrangement of the several sections of fabric necessary to s'aid normal shape and p the cut ends. This is particularly noticeable.

produce one'face or cover-"of a so called bor: de r comfortable, said cover'being made up of a centerpiece a'of rectangular form, and border sections ah-a which are stitched to said center-piece; the sections all-a being also stitched together at their mitered ends.

miter-ed border The cutting of the 'several fabrics has ordinarily been performed on tables upon which the fabric is first spread and stretched and finally cut diagonally by ahand knife that is guided by a simple triangle of forty-five degrees. I

To have always found in practice that it is impossible to spread and stretch the thin fabric without drawing it out of its normal shape and, c0usequently,iwhen released from the cutting board, it is disposed to return to thus vary the'angle of when cheap help is employed and in order to obtain satisfactory results, and to avoid waste of fabric, we have found it necessary to employ operatives of. ahigh order of intelligence,

' 1who command proportionately'high-wages.

' reels the strips upon T. PALMER,

supporting frames chine, the same being connected and stiffened stripping up, and p by cross-rods 13-13.

be cut, is hung, as seen in I I but one web of cloth is run fully illustrated in the an-. 'nexed' drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation ofa machine em- 'bodying our invention,and Fig.2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central vertical section of the guide-roilsand slitting-knife'of said machine. Fig; its a developmentof the cylinder upon which the fabric is rolled before being-mitered, and Fig. 5 is a plan view of said fabric aslit appears when removed from the cylinder and spread out.

Fig. b'isa plan of the cover of a bed-comfortable having a initered border.

in the drawings 10 and 11 indicate the main of our newly invented ma- At the rear portion of the machine frames are one or more pairs of Journalbearmgs i6 in which the arbor that supports the fabricto Fig. 1.

Ordinarily through the machine but-more thahone web may be operated upon, at the same. time, if desired. p 1 I .14 denotes a bar or shaft hung in the upper part of the machine frames and having ad justably' secured thereon collars 17 that serve as side guides between which the web of fabric passes, as it approaches the slittingnrechanism, and between said'bar lei and thedescribed journal bearings 16 is aplatfo'rm 18 having rollers 19 mounted on its front and rear ends, heneath'which the fabric is passed before it is carried over the bar 14.

The platform 18 is an important factor in our machine, as we find in practice that the thin web of cloth is inclined, more or less, to ride toward one or the other of the ends of said bar 14, notwithstanding the guide collars 17, and it is frequently necessary for the attendant to guide the fabric by hand, a short time, or until such tendency to ride is corrected,

The platform 18, upo wh h the attendant may stand, renders it i eat matter to time reach and control the fabric whereas, if the platform, was not provided. the attendant would be compelled to reach a yard or more from one side of the machine.

Having passed the web over guide-bar 14: it is then passed-between certain guide-rolls 16', which confront; each other and are so located that there is only slight space between them, the same being true of a similar pair of rolls 16". Between the two described pairs of rolls (16' and 16") is a table 20 of considerable width that is slitted at its central portion to allow the' circumferential edge of a sheet steel circular knife 21 to project upward through said tableas best seen in Fig. 3 and immediately over said table and knife is an idle roll 22 whose central portion has an annular groove 22' providing clear space in which the knife .edge may revolve. Knife 21 is provided to cut the web of fabric lengthwise through its center, thus making two strips each 18 inches wide or one half the width of the original roll, which is ordinarily one yard-wide; each longitudinal half part being suitably printed to serve as a fancy border when mitered and made up into a bed comfortable cover. The shaft of knife 21 has upon one end a pulley 23 that may be driven at a high rate of speed by a belt from any convenient counter-shaft. After the web of fabric has been stripped, as described, and the two strips have been passed between the pair of bars 16', the ends of said strips are carried around a cylinder or drum 24 whose shaft 25 isjournaled in the machine frames 10 -11; the ends of the fabric being pressed upon pins 26 projecting from said drum. Drum 24 is of such exact diameter that .its circumference equals one side and one end of the border of a mitered quilt and attention may be called here to the fact that comfortables of this class, as made commercially, are of somewhat greater length than width, as seen. in Fig. 6 of the drawings, although they vary somewhat in size.

The circumferential wall of the drum 24 has one long diagonal slot 27, of forty five degrees pitch (relatively to the edge of the fabric wound upon said drum) and it has also two short slots 2829, of the same pitch but extending only half across the drum (see Fig. 4); these short slots being so located relatively to the long slot 27, that they space oi the circumference of the drum properly to make one side and one end section of a border out of each layer of fabric wound upon the drum. Slots 27, 28 and 29 are provided to guide a knife used by the attendant in cutting off and mitering the border strips. When I reeled upon the drum and the several layers are then mi-te'red simultane'sously by cutting them at the diagonal slots 27, 28 and 29 as described. The large" number of pieces thus quickly produced are accurately mitered and do not vary appreciably in length. Being reeled upon the drum under uniform tension they are all stretched, alike and there is no distortion of the angle when the cut sections are removed from the drum....-

For cutting borders for large comfortables we provide, at opposite sides of the drum 24' plates or sections of board 30 extending the entire length of the drum and supported by lightmetallic frames 31 that are slotted radially to the axis of the drum, as at 332 and are adjustably secured to the drum heads by screws or bolts 33'. By suitably adiusting said plates 30 outward, or inward, considerable variation in the length of the mitered strips may be attained. Secured to the drum shaft 25, at one end thereof, is a gear 34 that meshes with, and is driven by. a smaller gear 35 on a stud projecting from frame 10 and said gear 35 is driven by asimilar gear 36 also hung on a stud.' Gear 36 is driven by a small spur gear 37 on a shaft 38 which latter also bears fast and loose pulleys 39-40 which are driven by a belt from a suitable countershaft. The described train of gearing drives the drum 24 with a slowbutsteady movement.

Our inyention performs its workrrapidiy afidcheaply and preventst'he spoiligg 6f stock. Having described our invention, we claim- In a fabric *mitering machine, in-combina tion, a drum having diagonal, circumferential slots, as set forth, radially adj nstable bars 30 secured o opposite sides of said drum intermediate said slots, and mechanism for revolving said drum.

REUBEN T. PALMER, JR. FREDERIC WV. MERCER.

\Vitnesses:

FRANK H. ALLEN, LILA D. PEALE. 

